Something You Should

Something I usually do when I go abroad, is to buy an English book about any subject related with climate change or the state of the planet. In this way, I found in Paris the book whose cover you can see on the left.

And what special thing has this book that many others don't? The first thing is the content. The second is that you can downloaded it for free. I think you can't lose such a opportunity to read a book with points of view that not everybody has. Give yourself the opportunity to see in another direction.

I will let you here some quotes from the Preface to have an idea of what you are going to read, if you do, of course.

Our world is changing fast.When Plan B 2.0 went to press two years ago, the data on ice melting were worrying. Now they are scary....

By 2030, when China's income per person is projected to match that in the United States today, China will be consuming twice as much paper as the world currently produces. If in 2030 the country's 1.46 billion people have three cars for every four people, U.S. style, China will have 1.1 billion cars. And it will consuming 98 million barrels of oil per day, well above current world production...

The challenge for our generation is to build a new economy, one that is powered largely by renewable sources of energy, that has a highly diversified transpor system, and that reuses and recycles everything. And to do it with unprecented speed...

In the following paragraph you have four of the mainstay of my religion... There are four overriding goals in Plan B 3.0: stabilizing climate, stabilizing population, erradicating poverty and restoring earth's ecosystems....

I don't want this post to be longer, so I'm going to finish with the following quote of the book: We have the technologies to restructure the world energy economy and stabilize climate. The challenge now is to build the political will to do so. Saving civilization is not a spectator sport. Each of us has a leading role to play.

Here's the link to download the book and here some more useful information.

Have a nice weekend.

P.S. If you decide to print the book, please, do it using recycled paper and if impossible, buy the book, it is printed that way. Save trees. Respect the Planet.

The Prophecy

I know the picture is a bit gloomy, but I think it takes your attention... Just as some scientists intend respect to climate change. In December 4th, 2007, I wrote a post in which I commented how bad lucky we were in our last travel to Finland, given that the weather played a dirty trick on us and there was neither ice nor snow.  In that post I also commented that if winters were going to be every time warmer in the North, I didn't want to think how hot summers were going to be in the South (of Europe of course). Here you have two links I have just found: the first and the second (the old link I have is in Spanish and sometimes the website fails, that's why I have looked for something similar in English).  

Don't Look Away

Problems are not cleared up without facing them. The solution is in our hands. I know you'd rather prefer being happy but humanity has been living a party for two hundred years. Now it's the moment to make up our mind and make a change, a deep change. What are you waiting for? Regrettably, what you see below is, once more, not sci-fi.

Click Here To Try To Save The Polar Bear

Never's too Late to Mend

From time to time I surf the web looking for information which I think is worth spreading it. One example of it is the trailer I leave here. I roughly bought the film a year ago from amazon.co.uk. Sadly, stuff like this arrives to Spain late, very late or never, the reasons? Who knows!  Anyway, if you decide to buy it on line, take into account your DVD zone, to Europe I think is 2, otherwise you won't be able to watch the DVD. 

If you want to know my opinion, I liked it more than "An uncofortable truth". 

The Ten Commitments

... to stop climate change ...

First. Change your bulbs. A fluorescent bulb cuts down emissions about 400 kilos of CO2 a year.

Second. Drive less your car. Walk, pedal, share your car or use the bus. You'll save 1.5 kilos of CO2 per 5 kms without driving.

Third. Recycle more. You'll cut down 1000 kilos of CO2 recycling half of your rabbish.

Fourth. You'll check your tires. A good pressure cuts down the fuel consumption. Keep in mind that every litre of fuel releases 2.5 kilos of CO2.

Fifth. You'll cut down the consumption of warm water. If you have a low pressure shower, you'll avoid to release 3 tons of CO2 per year and to do the washing with cold water 225 kilos.

Sixth. You'll avoid to buy things with a lot of wrapping. Reducing 10% your rabbish will avoid the emission of 545 kilos of CO2 per year.

Seventh. You'll regulate the thermostat. 2ºC less in winter, 2ºC more in summer and you'll save 900 kilos of CO2 per year.

Eigth. You'll plant a tree. You'll get captured 1000 kilos of CO2.

Nineth. You'll switch off all your electric appliances which are not in use. TV, PC, DVD and Hi-Fi devices suppose the emission of several thousands of kilos of CO2 per year.

Tenth. You'll become part of the solution setting an example.




P.S. Thanks Paqui.

Reasons for not Visiting the Circus

Ten days ago, the following issue broke out in the spanish press: A Circus was sent to Court because of animal abuse at the USA. Here you have the comments I posted.

"For quite a while, I duly get involved into protests to close circus which use animals in their spectacles. Many of you could think what a bad thing may be a circus. The Circus itself has nothing bad, but I think is not a place for an animal and much less to do what it is obliged to do. Circus without any animals are completely possible, in fact, I've been twice in that type of spectacles, so experience supports what I'm saying. I think we should change our way of thinking: things are in the way they are because it's custom and customs shouldn't be changed...

 

I let you a video related to the piece of news. I don't know if it is the first time that something like this happens at the USA but, anyway, it's an important step to defend animal rights. When will spaniards have a judge to take the country to Court for our National Party?"

2050 minus 2040 equal to 10

Masters say that, if something is difficult to have under control, that is an exponential increment of something. Here you two examples: the incresase of population and climate change. Like in many aspects of life, in terms of climate change you can find two different groups: the group of optimistic people (mid-full bottle) and the group of pessimistic people (mid-empty bottle).

The ones of the second group estimate that "the triggers" of the climate are already working. To say it in another words: problems will worse in a linear way and suddenly... maybe some day... will happen lots of "bad things" faster than saying Jack and Robinson, no matter the consequences it brings...

Some time ago it was told that by 2100 the North Pole would be navigable in summer (to happiness of that ones that only have and want piles of money). Later, it was told that it would happened by 2080, afterwards 2050 then 2040. Things seem to go faster than some scientists thought, so allow me to include here that group of people who always say "we won't see it". I've been collecting for a time pieces of news about environmental issues and, in the moment I wrote this post, maybe one year and a half or more, I found two interesting things but they were written in Spanish. In spite of it, I post you two simmilar pieces of news but in English: one and two. Think about it and act in consequence. You are what you do and not what you say.

Good evening.